Just when General Motors makes strides in one area, it must sacrifice in another as the auto industry continues to battle a worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips used in many car parts.
GM hit its production target to finish building and shipping nearly 30,000 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups, which were awaiting chip parts, to dealers this week. Starting Monday, GM must idle four of its North American plants that build midsize SUVs for two weeks because of the chips shortage.
Plant workers say there are tens of thousands of midsize SUVs parked, awaiting chips to complete production and ship to dealers, but a company spokesman declined to comment on specific numbers, noting the situation changes daily.
In an internal notice to GM workers obtained by the Free Press on Thursday and confirmed by GM, the automaker will idle the following plants starting Monday through July 26:
• San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Builds Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain midsize SUVs
• Ramos Assembly, Mexico: Builds the Equinox and GMC Blazer midsize SUVs
• Lansing (Mich.) Delta Township: Builds Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse midsize SUVs
• Spring Hill Assembly, Tennessee: Builds Cadillac XT5, XT6 and GMC Acadia midsize SUVs
Additionally, at the CAMI, formerly Canadian Automotive Manufacturing Inc., Assembly in Ontario, where GM builds Equinox, the company will extend downtime to Aug. 16. The plant was supposed to resume production next week after its scheduled two-week summer shutdown.
GM confirmed its full-size pickup plants in Flint, Mich.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Silao, Mexico, as well as full-size SUV production in Arlington, Texas, are all running regular production, which is three shifts.
A worker at Lansing Delta Township plant told the Free Press there are about 15,000 vehicles parked, awaiting chip parts to complete production and ship to dealers. The worker asked to not be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
At Wentzville Assembly in Missouri, where GM makes its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups and full-size vans, GM has about 30,000 unfinished pickups parked in various locations awaiting chips parts since late April.
In early June, GM promised its dealers that "help is on the way" by forgoing the typical summer shutdown at most plants and redirecting chips parts to vehicles that are in demand and awaiting parts. At that time, GM said shipments of Colorado and Canyon pickups will increase by about 30,000 total units through the week of July 5.
GM came close.
Shipments of the midsize pickups "Increased by about 30,000 from mid-May through July 14, as the team completed dynamic vehicle testing on units held at the plant due to semiconductor disruptions," GM spokesman David Barnas said. He called it "incredible work by the team at Wentzville to hit the 30,000 targeted commitment and prepare the plant for launch changeover at the same time."
He said production of the vehicles at Wentzville will resume as planned on Monday following its scheduled downtime to retool the plant to build the next-generation midsize pickups.
Besides building vehicles shy of parts and parking them to await the parts, GM is also building some vehicles without certain parts and knocking off some money from the sticker price.
GM said earlier this week it will make some SUVs without a wireless phone charging feature.
In March, GM said it will build certain 2021 light-duty full-size pickups without a fuel management module until the end of the model year in late summer. The result is those affected pickups will not achieve top fuel economy performance.
In June, GM said certain full-size SUVs and pickups will not contain Automatic Stop/Start -- the feature that turns off the engine when a driver stops at an intersection and then automatically restarts it when the driver steps on the throttle.